Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1887-04-25

learn them how to steal! Some were
seized upon by the police The vast ma
ioriUy of instances were not known. The
mead of the firm asked: "Where is George
nOW?' "Oh, he isn't here any more"
a lad might better sUarVe to death on
blasted heath than take one cent from his
employer. Woe be unto that employer
who unnecessarily puts a temptation in a
boys way. There have been great estab-
lishments in these cities building marble
palaces, their owners diving worth mil
lions, and millions, and millions, who
made vast amount of their estate out of
the blood, and muscle, and nerve of half
paid clerks. Such men as-well, l will
not mention any name. But I mean men
who have gathered up vast estates at
the expense of the people who were
ground under their heel. "O," say such
merchants, ''if you don't like it here, then
60 and get better place" AS much as
TO say: "I've got you in my grip, and l
mean to hold you; you can't get any
other place " O., what a contrast we see
between such men and those Christian
merchants of Brooklyn and New York
who to-day are sympathetic with their
cleTks-when they pay the salary, acting
in this way: "This salaay that | give you
is not ell my interest in you. You are an
immortal man; you are an immortal wo-
man; am interested in your present and
your everlasting welfare; l want you to
understand that if I am a little higher up
in this store, am beside you in Chris
tian sympathy" Go back forty years to
Arthur Tappen's store in New York;
man whose worst enemies never queS-
toned his honesty. Every morning he
brought all the clerks and the account
ants and the Weighers into q room for de-
yotion. They sang. They prayed. They
exhorted. On Monday morning the
clerks were asked where they had at
tended church on the previous day, and
what the sermons were about. 1t must
have sounded strangely, that voice of
praise along the streets where the deVO-
tees of mamm0n were counting their gol-
den beads. You say, Arthur Tappen
failed. Yes, he was unfortunate, like a
great many good men; but I understand
he met all his obligations before he left
this world, and l know that he died in
the peace of the gospel, and that he is be-
fore the throne of God tO-day-fOreVer
blessed. Ii that be failing, l wish that
you might all fail. Thereiare great many
young men in this city-yea, in this house
who want a word of encouragement,
Christian encouragement. One smile of
good cheer would be worth more to them
tomorrow morning in their places of
business tnan a present of $50, 900 ten
years hence. 0, | remember the appre-
hension and tremor OF entering profess
sion. 1 remember very well the man who
greeted me in the ecclesiastical court
with the tip ends of the long fingers of
the left hand; and l remember the other
man who took my hand in both of his and
said: "God bless you, my brother; you
have entered a glorious profession; be
faithful to God and He will see you
through" Why, feel this minute the
thrill of that Misunderstanding, though the
man who gave me the Christian grip has
been in heaven twenty-five years. There
are old men who can look back to forty
years ago, when some one said kind
word to them. Now, old men, pay back
what you got then. 1t is great art for
old men to be able to encourage the
young There are many you people in
our cities who have come from inland
counties OF our own state-frOm the
granite hills Of the north, from the savan-
mas of the south, from the prairies of the
west. They are here to get their fortune.
Tney are in boarding houses where every
body seems to be thinking of himself.
They want companionship and they want
CHRISTIAN encouragement. Give it to
them. My word is to all clerks in this
house: Be migh:ier than your tempta-
tons. A Sandwich Islander used to
think when he slew an enemy that all the
strength Of that enemy came into his own
right arm. And I have to tell you that
every misfortune you conquer is so much
added to your moral power. With Omni-
potence for q lever and the throne of God
for q fulcrum you can move earth and
heaven. While there are other young
men putting the cup of sin to their lips,
stoop down and drink out of the fountains
of God and you will rise up strong to
thresh the mountains. The snCients used
to think h4tpearls were fallen rain drops,
which, touching the surface of the sea,
hardened into gems, then dropped to the
bottom. have to tell you to-day that